Man on trolley for 10 hours died of heart attack

A man died from a cardiac arrest after spending almost 10 hours on a trolley in the emergency department of one of the country’s busiest hospitals, an inquest heard.

James Holland, 79, from Glanmire, Co Cork, a father of five and a grandfather of four, was pronounced dead at Cork University Hospital (CUH) in the early hours of April 11 last, Cork Coroner’s Court was told yesterday.

The inquest heard that Mr Holland, who suffered a heart attack 20 years ago, was woken by chest pains at home at around 1am on April 10. He was referred by SouthDoc to CUH and presented at its emergency department (ED) just after 3.20pm.